Major league dream on hold for Cal Quantrill

Quantrill and his Junior National Team Canada teammates were at Paul Walsh Field Tuesday night for an exhibition game against the New Bedford Bay Sox.

BILL ABRAMSON

NEW BEDFORD — Sometimes you can't go wrong making the toughest decision in your young life.

Should he accept a scholarship to one of the best colleges in the country or take a shot at a professional baseball career?

That's the choice 18-year-old Cal Quantrill of Port Hope, Ont., had to make last month.

Quantrill and his Junior National Team Canada teammates were at Paul Walsh Field Tuesday night for an exhibition game against the New Bedford Bay Sox of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Quantrill had been penciled in to pitch against the Bay Sox, but rainouts pushed him to tonight at Chatham against the Cape Cod League Anglers.

The son of former Red Sox draft choice and pitcher Paul Quantrill had input from his dad, who took the college route before embarking on a 13-year professional career.

"My dad was there for me whether I signed to go pro or went to school," Quantrill said. "He went to the University of Wisconsin and he enjoyed his time there, but he said I'd enjoy the minor leagues, too.

"Both options were open to me and it was a big decision — Stanford or the second round of the Major League Draft. I had my whole family behind me in whatever I chose."

The seven teams that called during the second round of the draft were warned that their choice would be going to Stanford to study engineering in the fall and they backed off. That is, until the 26th round when the New York Yankees took a shot that the younger Quantrill would change his mind.

They were wrong. Stanford won out.

For the third straight season, Quantrill will try and pitch Canada to the World Junior Baseball title. As a sophomore — the only sophomore on the team — he came on in relief in the second inning in the championship game against the United States in Colombia.

Last year, he got the start in the championship game against the U.S. in Korea and this year, after the team's trip through New England, he will head for Australia in preparation for the Worlds in Taiwan. Before leaving the country, Quantrill will join his club team (the Ontario Terriers) in Missouri for a 4-day tournament.

When it comes to baseball, Cal Quantrill graduated high school with a PhD.

"My dad has always been my coach and he was a wonderful pitcher, but he can't teach it all," the younger Quantrill said. "We will watch the Red Sox and Blue Jays game and discuss what pitch the pitcher will throw next."

His current pitching coach with Team Canada, former major leaguer Chris Reitsma, is amazed by what Cal already knows.

"Growing up the son of a major leaguer, he's had the benefit of watching the game and he knows the game well," Reitsma said. "His baseball IQ is off the chart for an 18-year-old. He has a knowledge of how to set up hitters that's special for his age.

"He throws between 89-93 as a high school player and has an above average changeup as his second pitch. Now, he's developing a slider. We'll see what happens as he goes to Stanford, but he's got a chance to pitch in the big leagues some day."

Last week in Torrington, Conn., Quantrill was the losing pitcher against the Titans, 1-0. He gave up one hit in six innings and struck out eight.

"I've been working hard on that slider," Quantrill said. "Coach Reitsma had a great slider, so, who better to learn that pitch from? Against Torrington, I had eight strikeouts and four were on the slider. It was the first time I had all three pitches working in the same game. It's big to have that third pitch."

For a starter, it's essential to have a third pitch, especially when you see the same batters four times in a game. And, even as a freshman, Quantrill's future tilts toward being a starter.

"I love a challenge. I hit a little with my club team, but this body is built to be a pitcher," the 6-foot-3, 180-pounder said. "In the Pac-12, every day is a job and the challenge will be awesome."

When he made his official visit to Stanford, his host player was Mark Appel, the pitcher who was the overall No. 1 pick in this year's draft by the Houston Astros. Appel showed Cal around campus and gave him the feel of what it would be like to go to school there, but the school sold itself, Quantrill pointed out.

"The team lost a lot of pitchers and I was told I'd have a chance to start and even could win the Friday night start," Quantrill said of the prime pitching plum on any college staff. "It's nice to know I'd have a chance to win that spot as a freshman."

Once Quantrill attends his first class, he's not eligible to be drafted again until after his junior year.

With all his accomplishments, being mobbed by 400 or so schoolmates after throwing a perfect game at Trinity College School this year, ranks right up with the best of them.

The next highlight has yet to come.

"There are so many levels of baseball," he said. "High school is for fun; the club team is for winning, and Team Canada is for development. Physically and mentally, I felt I was ready, but I really wanted to do the college thing and I want to be a first rounder, and three years in college won't hurt my chances.